Target nixes mandatory retirement age for CEOs; Brian Cornell staying

(AP) — Target is dropping the mandatory retirement age for its CEO and extended its contract with Chief Executive Brian Cornell for three years.

Cornell would have passed the age of 65 in that span.

“In discussions about the company’s longer term plans, it was important to us as a board to assure our stakeholders that Brian intends to stay in his role beyond the traditional retirement age of 65,” said Monica Lozano, the lead independent director of Target’s board.

Sales have grown steadily since Cornell took the top job in 2014, and Target became a lifeline to millions of people trying to limit their exposure during the pandemic.

FILE – Brian Cornell, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Target, speaks at a financial community meeting, Tuesday, March 5, 2019, in New York. Cornell will stay in his position leading the retailer for about the next three years. The company also announced Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, that Arthur Valdez, executive vice president and chief supply chain and logistics officer, will retire. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

The company is trying to navigate tremendous shifts in consumer behavior with the worst of the pandemic in the rearview mirror while it wrestles with soaring prices and rising wages for workers.

The company also announced Wednesday that Arthur Valdez, executive vice president and chief supply chain and logistics officer, will retire. Valdez will be succeeded by Gretchen McCarthy, senior vice president, global inventory management.